Hi All, I'm just getting into using a mirrorless digital camera to scan my film, and I'm wondering what people recommend for inverting the negatives.
When I looked into this a couple of years ago (but didn't end up going the camera scanning route at that time), Negative Lab Pro was considered the "gold standard," but I know there are a lot of alternatives now and I'm wondering if that is still the case. Is there anything better out there?
I currently use Lightroom, not Lightroom Classic, and I would need to get a Lightroom Classic license to use NLP. Annoying, but not a deal breaker if it gets the best results.
AFAIK it is still the gold standard. I'm not a Lightroom user, so I settled on Filmomat's SmartConvert. I'm happy with it. It does a great job and does so with a minimum of fuss. I think it lacks all the options NLP has, but I figure if you are going to enhance a photo you can just do so in whatever post-processing software you use anyway.
It might be worth looking at Kyle McDougal's YouTube video where he compares NLP to SmartConvert.
Negative conversion is pretty simple -- just inverting a few sliders. It's so simple that it can be done with command line utilities where you never even have to look at the negative when the conversion is performed. Companies like to sell entire software packages to do this because people have been conditioned to pay for the GUI visual experience. If you want to do it in a GUI you don't even need conversion software, all that's really needed to do it in a GUI is to invert a few sliders and then proceed with normal post processing. Some software even allows single-click inversion, which demonstrates that the process is so simple that you really shouldn't have to pay extra for a new package just to do it. I'm not familiar with the software packages previously mentioned (I'm on a different platform) though I'd hope that most post software should allow you to create presets that perform the equivalent of negative inversion without having to buy a specific package just to do it. The companies that sell these packages make a lot of money by convincing people that special software is needed when it isn't.
Somewhere in this forum there's a thread where we've covered the free (as in beer) software options for negative conversion.
Do I want to pay 100 dollars to a company that has been the gold standard at this and creates a very good starting point where you can get to the end result you want faster and create a workflow for it.
Or did I want to invest even more time playing with sliders, and manual inversions and create the workflow for all the stuff the software did for me.
My time was worth way more that the 100 bucks it cost and got me up and running fast.
That’s how I looked at it- Once I tried the software and used it, the 100 bucks was a no brainer for me.
Edit: I also had to download LRC- It came with my subscription to Adobe-
I only use it for the conversion now and delete the files after- Makes converting them simple then I export the RAW to Lightroom Classic- Simple workflow. I could even tether my Sony to LRC to make it even easier for the conversion but have my stand in a different spot to my computer.
Before I used NLP I would manually convert, play w the sliders etc. it was ok for B&W but colour was pretty bad because most of the time it would just look bad, no matter how much time I spent trying to fix it and convince myself it looked good.
NLP was a revelation, as simple as that. I have not tried any of the newer product offerings from others since - and they may be great - because I am really happy where I am and see no reason to change.
NLP gives you something like a 10 pic free demo before you buy, so I’d recommend to try that to see for yourself. I would not buy any conversion product that does not let you try it out first. Of course no problem with that for the free ones!
I've been using NLP for years and just recently gave the demo version of SmartConvert a try to see if it's more simplistic approach would be able to streamline my workflow.
NLP provides all the tools necessary to create a nearly finished image, with emphasis on presets, etc. that strive to emulate lab scanners and certain films. Sometimes I wish there were fewer options, but you don't have to use everything if you don't want to.
SmartConvert provides a consistent starting point, with a few basic adjustments. For my purposes, there would need to be much more additional editing in another program. Unfortunately, the demo version doesn't allow any actual export, so I couldn't compare my current end to end workflow with a new one. I won't be spending 99 euros without being able to do that comparison.
Like others, I want something that reduces my time in front of a computer, and I'm willing to pay for it
RustyRus wrote:
I only use it for the conversion now and delete the files after- Makes converting them simple then I export the RAW to Lightroom Classic- Simple workflow.
Do I want to pay 100 dollars to a company that has been the gold standard at this and creates a very good starting point where you can get to the end result you want faster and create a workflow for it.
Or did I want to invest even more time playing with sliders, and manual inversions and create the workflow for all the stuff the software did for me.
My time was worth way more that the 100 bucks it cost and got me up and running fast.
That’s how I looked at it- Once I tried the software and used it, the 100 bucks was a no brainer for me.
Edit: I also had to download LRC- It came with my subscription to Adobe-
I only use it for the conversion now and delete the files after- Makes converting them simple then I export the RAW to Lightroom Classic- Simple workflow. I could even tether my Sony to LRC to make it even easier for the conversion but have my stand in a different spot to my computer.
Good luck tethering your Sony to Lightroom. Sony won't allow third party access. I ended up using the crappy Sony software to capture then import it to LR.
